Randy York’s N-Sider

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Geaux Coach Pelini!In the ultimate taste test for a bandwagon of Husker fans, Nebraskans will be rooting for Bo almost as hard as LSU fans. Get ready to offer up your own “Pelini Play of the Game.”

Gumbo and jambalaya will never compare to a traditional game-day slice of Val’s pizza or a warm Runza sandwich for the Nebraska football faithful. But Big Red fans will get a taste for Bo Pelini’s last Louisiana cookin' on Monday night when second-ranked LSU and top-ranked Ohio State collide in the BCS national championship game.

Talk about home-cookin’. LSU is the first two-loss team ever to reach the BCS national title game, and this year it will be in New Orleans, right next door to Baton Rouge.

Submit your Pelini Play of the Game

When watching tonight's BCS Championship game, what one play on defense gets you excited about the style of defense Bo Pelini brings back to Nebraska?

To whet your appetite for Coach Pelini's full-flavored and meaty style of Husker football next season, here's a special opportunity for Husker Nation.

Consider this your invitation to submit your own "Pelini Play of the Game" – in other words, the one play on defense that gets you most excited about bringing the Pelini style of play back to Nebraska.

You might be big on a tough goal-line stand. Maybe you prefer a big hit in the backfield or a Tiger defender swarming to recover a loose ball. Some of you are still talking about the two late interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown that saved LSU in its 21-14 win over Tennessee.

You remember that nationally-televised SEC championship game in Atlanta like it was yesterday. And you remember Bo’s all-important plane trip to Lincoln and his Sunday afternoon press conference the next day even more.

We realize that the players you’re most interested in making the big plays Monday night will be wearing Tiger uniforms. We also realize that you’ve only adopted LSU for this one, supercalafragilistic expialadocious game because of the warm feeling that comes over you when your next head coach is asked to play such a pivotal role and call every one of his team’s defensive plays.

But c ’mon. We know Nebraska fans. Once you lay eyes on a game like this, you can’t help but imagine what might happen when a mastermind like Bo starts mixing and blitzing and gambling and hoping and trying to disrupt whatever gets an offense moving in the right direction.

So whatever you see that will get your stomach growling for the return of the Blackshirts in '08, we want you to share your pick for “Pelini Play of the Game” with us.

Geaux Coach Pelini!

"Geaux" is how LSU Tiger fans spell "Go", as in "Geaux Tigers." We’re sure their fans won’t mind us borrowing that Cajun term for this one, little old game that has a certain ripple effect on a collective psyche, not to mention what it might do to resurrect recruiting.

Bo Pelini is coaching in this game for a lot of personal reasons, but none more important than getting permission from Tom Osborne, Nebraska’s newly named permanent athletic director and his new boss.

Osborne realizes how rare the opportunity is to coach in a national title game. He knows great coaches with outstanding careers who never got the chance. “We owe Bo that opportunity, and it doesn’t really hurt Nebraska in any way,” Osborne said, pointing out that Pelini has visited every recruit committed to Nebraska and some who haven’t. “He loses a little bit of time watching recruiting films, but he can make up for that.”

If LSU beats Ohio State for the national title, “Pelini can show a national championship ring to recruits across the country and maybe stem the tide of de-commits,” wrote a Denver columnist, who called Nebraska’s playing catch-up on the recruiting trail “a speed bump” that Colorado should “enjoy while it can.”

Hopefully, the same will become true for other Big 12 North Division rivals who now must contend with a true defensive force at the Husker helm . . . a leader who keeps proving himself at the highest levels of college football.

It’s interesting that in a year when college football teams are gaining a record number of yards, scoring a record number of points and spending a record number of dollars on the game’s foremost offensive coaches, Dr. Tom Osborne, the ultimate collegiate offensive guru, hired a defensive-minded coach.

If you can’t wait for the national championship game before weighing in on how the Pelini factor will affect Nebraska’s fortunes, feel free to do so now.

There will be no 15-yard penalty for interference with our main question.

The Voices of Husker Nation

"The best and most pivotal play of the game was the forced fumble on 4th down and the ensuing LSU recovery. That is the kind of mental and physical abandon that I am looking forward to seeing on the Blackshirt defense when Coach Pelini takes the reins." - Bob Gerten

"4th and 4 when Ali Higsmith sacked OSU's QB causing a fumble. The fumble was returned and Bo was celebrating with the players. That's what excites me about Bo's style." - Bradley Dolton

"The best play of the game for the LSU defense was the flying tackle that caused the Ohio State QB to fumble just as he was winding up to pass. Overall, the defense was just flying toward the ball. That is why we are excited about 'Bo-Ball' returning to Lincoln. Bo Pelini - we welcome you back." - William Snesrud

"Ali Highsmith flattens Boeckman in the backfield and causes a fumble that is chased down by Harry Coleman, who came in and did a marvelous job replacing All-American Craig Steltz." - Scott Norman

"Bo's play of the game was dialing up a safety blitz after LSU grabbed a 17-10 lead, causing an interception." - Greg Lake

"My favorite Pelini 'D' play was one of the plays when he blitzed with a safety - looked like the guy was blasted out of a cannon he came so hard. He forced an early throw from the QB down the left sideline and the ball was picked off. Loved the play because of the pressure on the opponent and the passion shown in the way the player came through the O-Line, and the results." - John Demma